"Yes he was bowling with the white ball but his skill levels are as good as they were before the ban", Pietersen said of Amir.

And having been in the United Kingdom since May to play for Essex in England's domestic Twenty20 competition, the hostile quick will look to impart some of his local knowledge on the younger bowlers.

Yasir Shah: In his 12 Tests so far, Yasir Shah has taken as many as 76 wickets, including those who he might face in England next week. The guys did not shake hands at the end of the test. We felt empty when we took the wickets to win the match and did not celebrate.

Ahead of the squad being named, there was a suggestion that Stokes could be included to play as a batsman while Jos Buttler's name was also linked to a batting position following his impressive limited-overs form.

England and Pakistan are set to play their first Test on English soil since the 2010 spot-fixing scandal when they meet at Lord's on Thursday.

Hopefully for the neutrals and spectators in attendance, Pakistan should put up more of a fight across all three formats, allowing us to rate the current crop of England players against a tougher challenge. If he goes for four an over, Pakistan lose control and probably the game; if goes for two, Pakistan are in the series and perhaps all over England. "If it's sunny, you have to be more consistent and bowl into the stumps".

"It was the first time I had bowled the first over of a Test match ever - at 29 years old".

Broad's primary concern, of course, is with the ball - and he admits the Lord's pitch, which has offered so little to the seamers of late, is a headache. Waqar Younis couldn't use him properly, Shahid Afridi saw him as a threat (to his right to be the captain) but if any player can win a match for Pakistan in England this time, it's this bloke from Karachi.

Bat's great John Etheridge's top ten batsmen of all-time, but does England's 10k runs man Alastair Cook make the cut? "Once he has done his punishment then it is a new life for him and he is ready to have a go again". They love their cricket and the sport is watched by millions there.

"They have lost a few places in the middle order", he said.

Although preparation matches such as these against makeshift county XIs aren't going to have any bearing on the Test matches, it is a good sign for the series that Pakistan have already faired considerably better than their Sri Lankan counterparts earlier in the year.

I do not believe Pakistan can beat England. But my schedule is too busy at the moment and my loyalty to England that means at this stage I would not want to work against them.

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